


Partings

by CourtneyB



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst, Drama, End of Z, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtneyB/pseuds/CourtneyB
Summary: It's the moment Goku has been dreading for years. Death can't be stopped, but Chi-Chi won't leave unless she knows for sure that Goku will be all right.
Relationships: Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	Partings

**Author's Note:**

> I had to get this out of my system so I can focus on the fluff I'm writing for Gochi week. Blame all the stupid post GT fics I've been reading, even though I don't even consider GT canon. If you cry while reading this, just know that I cried while writing this.

It was the moment that Chi-Chi knew Goku had been dreading for years.

He remained strong and stoic throughout the goodbyes of their children and grandchildren. But when the two of them were finally alone in the bedroom, he stood frozen at the door, as if he were afraid to come closer. 

Maybe he thought if he didn’t move, time would somehow stop, and they’d never have to say goodbye.

“Goku…” Too weak to even sit up, she could only lift her arms to him. 

Slowly, reluctantly, he walked over to the bed. It was only when her frail little hands closed around his strong ones that he finally broke down. He fell to his knees beside her, burying his face in her neck and sobbing like a child.

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close. Stroked his wild hair, the spikes firm yet still as soft as feathers between her fingers. She let him cry because she knew it had been holding it in all day. He hadn’t wanted anyone else to see. 

“Don’t go,” he whimpered in her ear.

The plea drove tears to her own eyes. If only it were that easy…

But she held them back. She only had a little time left, and she couldn’t waste it. She wanted to give him all the comfort that would sustain him until his own time came.

“You know it won’t be forever,” she whispered.

“It’ll feel like forever.” 

He told her once that time passed differently in the afterlife; the seven years he spent there passed quickly enough for him. So it wouldn’t feel like forever for her. Yet for him…

He had no idea how long Saiyans lived. He barely aged while Krillin, Yamcha, and his other human friends succumbed to old age, no dragon balls to bring them back. There might be many years ahead of him. He might even —she prayed to Kami this wouldn’t come true—outlive Gohan and Goten.

She raised his face to her. “It won’t be forever,” she repeated firmly. “Even if it feels like is.”

Tears streamed down his face. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“Everything.” He meant all the times he left her alone. His deaths. The training. Getting Gohan to fight even when she didn’t want him to. 

She shook her head. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” 

She meant it. In all the ways that had mattered, he was a good husband. He was kind, gentle, honest, faithful, loyal, and he loved her. He had brought so much happiness and adventure into her life that made even the hardest times worthwhile. 

Yes, he could be reckless and thoughtless at times, and his strive to fight sometimes blinded him everything else. But no matter how many times he left or how long he stayed away, he always came home. And he never let her aging faster than him get in the way of how much he loved her.

“But I could have been better,” his voice wavered.

“No,” she said with as much force as she could. She cupped his face in her hands, stroking his cheek. “If you were different, then I wouldn’t love you so much.”

He looked like he was about to break down again. She squeezed his broad shoulders to keep him focused. 

“Don’t you go givin’ up without me,” she ordered him with the bossy tone she knew he secretly couldn’t get enough of. “You stay with our family for as long as you can, no matter how long it’ll be.”

He nodded shakily.

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“I mean it. I want to hear all about everything I miss when I see you again. You better last long enough to dance with Pan when marries Uub and they give us great-grandbabies.”

He smiled through tears. “I will.”

She smiled back. “Don’t you forget me either.” 

“Never.” His voice broke again. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

She pulled him back on the bed, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, and finally his lips. He laid his head on her breast, wrapping his strong arms around her. She soaked in as much of his warmth as she could, aware of the coldness descending on her.

She was tired, so tired. But her family was in good hands. And she hoped she had given Goku the strength and comfort he needed to sustain him until they were together again.

Her eyes closed and she smiled. What a ride life had been.


End file.
